Northern Ireland came out on top over their Southern counterparts in a series of friendly matches to mark the inaugural Willie Lucas Memorial Cup which the Southern Irish Pool Federation kindly hosted. With 2 points up for grabs in each section a tight match was expected and most of the matches didn't disappoint. But it was Northern Ireland who rose to the occasion and took the honours with a 12-4 win. Willie's son Dayne and his partners son James were down in The Kettles Country Hotel, Swords just outside Dublin to watch the event. A squad of over 60 players had travelled down on Friday night for the 3 days of competitive Pool on 20 top quality Championship Tables recently recovered with Iwan Simonis 2000 Grade Pool cloth. New NIPA Chairman Trevor Harte thanked the SIPF for their hospitality and a minutes silence was held in memory of "The Glove". Debby Walker and Kevin Byrne exchanged pennants before the match and a much appreciated gift of an Irish Scene painted by Southern Ireland player Cormac Dennis was given to Willies family members. All in all it was an unforgettable weekend and the NIPA Committee would like to thank the SIPF for all their hard work in organising the occasion. Thanks also, to the Kettles and Roganstown Country Hotels.
Along with winning the Team Event we had success in Individual events. Dessie Cooper had a tremendous win in the Seniors
Individual Final, as did Mark Gray in the Specials Final. Current NI Ladies Champion Pamela Hamilton was Runner-Up in the Ladies Individual and William Lowe won the Under 18 Title.Scores
NI Mens 'A' Team -- Won 13-12
NI Mens Seniors Team -- Won 15-10
NI Mens B1 Team -- Won 15-12
NI Mens B2 Team -- Won 14-13
NI Under 18s -- Won 18-9
NI Ladies 'A' Team -- Lost 8-13
NI Ladies 'B' Team -- Lost 10-11
NI Mens Specials -- Won 20-7
Individual Events
Mens Final -- Wayne Neeson (Southern Ireland) 10-4 Gavin Cleary (Southern I
reland)Seniors Final -- Dessie Cooper (Northern Ireland) 7-3 Pat Merrigan (Southern Ireland)
Under 18s Individual Final -- William Lowe (Northern Ireland) 6-2 Scott Clarke (Northern Ireland)
Ladies Final -- Michelle Sherwin (Southern Ireland) 6-2 Pamela Hamilton (Northern Ireland)
Mens Specials Final -- Mark Gray (Northern Ireland) 5-3 Martin McGuigan (Northern Ireland)
Top - Under 18s, William Lowe, William Irvine, John McIlreavy (Manager), Jamie Davison, Lee Wright, Scott Clarke
Middle - NI Specials, Eddie Huey, Peter McGrath, Mark Gray, Kevin Watton, Martin McGuigan
Bottom - Seniors, Dessie Cooper
